2012～2013年度的国际形势仍处于结构性调整的过渡时期。中、美、俄三个大国均完成了政府换届选举，大国间互动呈现出新的特征。中东北非动荡进入第三年，叙利亚内战继续胶着，而已经实现政权更迭的国家政局依然动荡不安。全球军费开支的增长状况与地区安全形势密切相关，发展海军成世界军备建设的重要趋势。恐怖主义依然猖獗，国际反恐的重心开始转向非洲；美国有望超过俄罗斯成为全球最大油气生产国，从而可能重塑世界能源市场的格局。在中国周边，领土海洋权益争端仍是中国周边安全的最大挑战，中国外交亟待更大的突破。
The international situation in 2013 was still in a transitional period of structural adjustments． After the United States, Russia, and China completed their presidential elections and uadership succession, there have been some new features in the interactions among the major war countries． The unrest in North Africa and the Middle East entered its third year, the Syrian war continued, and the countries undergoing democratic transition continued to suffer from political turmoil． The growth of national military expenditures was closely related to the regional security situation, as naval armaments became a major trend in the military spending of many countries． Terrorism was still rampant and the focus of U． S． counter-terrorism actions shifted to Africa． The United States is expected to overtake Russia as the world’s largest oil and gas producer, likely bringing about a reshaping of the patterns in world energy markets． Territorial and maritime disputes remained the greatest challenge to the security in China’ s ueighboring regions． China will need more diplomatic efforts and wisdom to make a significant breakthrough in settling these disputes.
